Gautier de Sartiges - 1248 A.D.
Among the legacy received by the church in
Sourniac, at different intervals, the most ancient are those of Gautier de Sartiges,
knight, and Hugues his son, prior to 23 September 1303, date of a transaction between the
Rector of the said church and Bertrand de Sartiges, in the presence of the bishop of
Clermont (Archives of Sourniac).
Escros is a small village North and close to
Sourniac. It was a dependency of Sartiges, as shown in many feodal acts, such as homage
given by Gautier, Geraud and Rigaud de Sartiges, brothers, to Rigaud de Montclar in 1262.
Gautier de Sartiges, a knight, went on a crusade in
1248, under the banner of Alphonse of France, brother of Saint-Louis, and was with the prince in St-Jean-d’Acre, when,
after the disaster of Mansoure, in 1250, he resigned himself, along with three of his
companions, to contract a loan. The act stating this fact, and according to which the name and Coat of Arms of Gautier de Sartiges is in one
of the Crusade rooms at the palace of Versailles, has been translated as:
"To all who will see these letters, let it be
known that: We, Gautier de Sartiges, Chatard de Montrognon, Ymbert de Mezet and Guillaume
d’Usson, knights, have and have received from Manfred de Coronato and Guittard
Schaffe, citizens and merchants of Genoa, one hundred and seventy « livres
tournois » that the most noble lord Alphonse, count of Poitiers and Toulouse has loaned us under his
guarantee and the obligation we have made to him of our wealth. We have given to the said
merchants a receipt for the money, considering ourselves well paid and satisfied. Made at
Acre, under seal by me, Gautier de Sartiges, in the year of our Lord 1250, in the month of
May. (Noblesse de France aux Croisades, par Roger, 105, 326. - Armorial in the rooms of
the crusades of Versailles, edited by Gavard,
second part, p. 37.) ".
Back in Auvergne, Gautier de Sartiges appears in
numerous acts with Rigaud and Geraud de Sartiges, all Lords of the area; they professed
their faith and paid homage for a part of their fiefdom to the Seigneur de Montclar in
1262; traded with Bertrand de Marlat on 4 March of the same year; with Pierre de Bilgeac,
on 3 september 1275, and consented to a sale to the dean of the monastery of Mauriac, on
17 of September 1277. (Original titles. - Archives de Sourniac.)
Bertrand de Sartiges, knight Templar, commander of Carlat, is well known in
history for having maintained true order, firstly before the bishop of Clermont, and then
before the commission of enquiry by Pope Clément V, from 1310 to 1311. He shared this
honor with Guillaume de Chambonnet, another knight of Auvergne, commander of Blandeix in
Combraille.